Trump paid off a major campaign donor by naming John Phelan as Secretary of the Navy. Phelannwas never in the Navy. Phelan never served in any branch of the military. But Phelan gave a lot of money to the Trump campaign. Phelan founded the private investment firm Rugger Management LLC.
Apparently, no one ever explained to Trump that you reward your campaign donors by making them Ambassadors to other countries. Phelan might have been thrilled to be Ambassador to The Court of St. James (England) or Italy or Ireland or Japan or Australia. But no, Trump named him as Secretary of the Navy, whose decisions affect the lives of large numbers of servicemen and women, as well as national security.
Military.com described the appointment:
John Phelan is President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for secretary of the Navy, the first service leadership position that the incoming administration has announced as it prepares to put its stamp on the military.
In a post to his social media site, Truth Social, Trump said that he is naming Phelan, a financier who appears to have no military experience or experience working on military policy and has never worked for a large defense contractor, to lead the Navy.
The Navy secretary serves as the civilian leader of the military’s second-largest branch and is responsible for the health and well-being of more than 1 million sailors, Marines, reservists and civilian personnel, as well as managing an annual budget of more than $250 billion while ensuring the Navy is able to execute critical national security missions.
Phelan was a massive donor to Trump and Republicans in 2024.
Federal Election Commission records show that, among his many political contributions, Phelan donated $834,600 to Trump’s joint fundraising committee in April. Days after the election, on Nov. 10, he would donate another $93,300, records show.
Phelan also donated $371,700 to the Republican National Committee and another $370,000 to 37 different Republican state committees all on a single day in April.
Phelan hosted Trump at one of his homes for a private fundraiser over the summer where, according to The Guardian, the then-candidate for president went on a expletive-laced rant about immigration and threatened that the 2024 election “could be the last election we ever have” if Vice President Kamala Harris won.
While it is not unusual for service secretaries to have been major fundraisers or donors prior to assuming their duties, what is unusual about Phelan is his lack of any military experience.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
He does have one box check marked: graduated from Trump II Clown College.
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I left this comment on the web page, but it didn’t appear when refreshed.
He does have one box checkmarked. Graduated from Trump II clown college.
Cheryl
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Did not realize he also has a grudge against the Navy? Maybe just in a silly mood and just for a laugh. Lives of sailors and marines count for little in his mind, it seems.
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Trump trivializes important leadership roles in defense and national security. Leading the Navy with the all potential conflicts in the South China Sea in the Arctic is no sinecure. It is an important role with global implications and shouldn’t be in the inexperienced hands of a financier.
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How can you talk about defense and national security in the same sentence as the South China Sea, which is nearly 8,000 miles from our nation? Maybe having our navy in the South China Sea is contributing to “all the potential conflicts”? How would the U.S. react if China’s navy were in the Gulf of Mexico?
I’m going to send my military to guard my interest in your home. And if you’re asking what interest do I think I have in your home, you’re on the right track!
And, since it probably needs to be said, no, I don’t think Trump is actually an isolationist who will do anything to reduce the U.S. military footprint. If anything, he’ll increase it, especially around China.
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One possible reason why we have naval forces in the South China Sea is to protect the nation of Taiwan which China wants to gobble up. Also, China has been infringing on the Philippines, Japan and South Korea’s access to various areas of the South China Sea.
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Taiwan *is* China. By official U.S. policy.
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So we abandoned our allies? What does our distance from them matter? You are incredibly ignorant or just dismissive of the implications of our abandoning the South China Sea to the Chinese. Do you suppose that there are countries who might choose not to be barred from their home waters because the Chinese claim exclusive rights to them?
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“…abandoning the South China Sea to the Chinese.”
Do you even hear the irony in that? It’s not the South U.S. Sea. It’s not our business. Our pretense that we own the planet is what’s fueling most of the conflict that’s endangering it these days.
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I just wrote on another thread about Texas and their attack on higher education in their state: “I used to like Texas. I never knew their creed was to engage in intellectual suicide.”
But come to think of it and having a look at the people who surround Trump, as well as his cabinet picks, intellectual suicide is Trump’s creed also.
“Trump is as Trump does.” CBK
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Probably couldn’t do any worse than the military personnel who run the world’s greatest waste producing machine.
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